


Bad Dream

by rebel_wren



Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Gen, Kanan Jarrus mentioned - Freeform, Light Angst, Nightmares, Past Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-23
Updated: 2019-08-23
Packaged: 2020-09-24 17:11:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20362099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rebel_wren/pseuds/rebel_wren
Summary: Hera's nightmares often find her reliving Kanan's death, though this time someone is there to help her.





	Bad Dream

Hera sat up quickly in the darkness, her breathing rapid and her heart pounding. She looked around the room wildly, slowly calming herself with long, deep breaths as she took in where she was.

_ It wasn’t real. _

Well, it was. Years ago. She’d watched, helplessly and in horror as the love of her life gave his life for hers. But as painful as it was, the ghosts of the past were still just that, and nothing she could do would change them.

She pulled her knees up to her chest, and buried her head in her hands, taking another deep breath and trying to hide the tears that stung her eyes.

Normally, the room would’ve been empty besides her- her room in the  _ Ghost _ almost never had anyone else sleep in it anymore. But the thicker and not quite as soft blankets reminded her that she wasn’t in the  _ Ghost _ . The Rebel Alliance, fearing a bombing of their ship at the rendevous point, wasn’t allowing anyone to stay in their ships in the hangars, and moved them to some more secure rooms in the center of the ship. The room Hera was in was only slightly bigger than the ones on the  _ Ghost _ , but she was in there with Zeb, Sabine, Chopper and her son, all of them sleeping on bedrolls on the floor. The only sounds were Zeb’s snores and the quiet hum of Chopper’s charger, which Hera had found lulling her to sleep earlier in the night.

She heard a  _ click  _ as one of the small lanterns turned on, and she rubbed her eyes quickly and looked up. Jacen pulled his blankets down and quietly padded over to Hera’s spot on the floor, with the same look of concern his father used to have.

“Mommy, are you okay?”

Hera chuckled quietly, smiling at him and gently reaching to stroke his hair. He seemed to have a sense for when something was wrong, just like Kanan always did. She sometimes wondered if he would grow up to be a Jedi, and then she would wonder if she wanted that.

“Yes, I’m alright. I just had a bad dream. Go back to bed, dear.”

Jacen nodded slowly, walking back over to his bed roll, but he didn’t lie down. He picked up the toy he had brought with him- his favorite, a tooka doll he’d affectionately named “Floofy”- before he turned off the lamp and came back over.

“Jacen,” Hera said, her voice kind but stern. “It’s late.”

Jacen slowly sat down, pushing himself into Hera, holding the tooka.

“We have to cuddle the bad dreams away,” he replied, in a way that was rather matter-of-fact for a young child.

Hera couldn’t help the twitch in the corner of her mouth. Jacen didn’t have nightmares often- which Hera was grateful for, not being any kind of stranger to them herself- but when he did, that was what she’d say to do. Of course he’d want to return the favor.

Hera slowly wrapped her arms around him, bringing him close.

“Alright. Cuddle the bad dreams away.”

Jacen buried his face against her, and Hera wanted to hold him even tighter, but worried about crushing him.

How she got so lucky, she’d never know.

“I love you, Jacen,” she whispered, with an accompanying gentle kiss to the crown of his head.

“I love you too,” he whispered back, with an accompanying yawn.

It wasn’t long before he fell back asleep, though this time in her arms, and Hera found herself beginning to drift off too.

She swore she saw Sabine smiling at her before she closed her eyes.


End file.
